By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.’ As opening lines of poems go, it’s instantly recognisable, and perhaps one of the most self-undoing. ‘Trees’ by Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918), an American writer and poet, delights in the beauty of trees even as it acknowledges the limits of the poet’s craft. Below is ‘Trees’, followed by some words of analysis.
‘Trees’ by Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;